You CAN Put a Price on an Education
by thinktink2
Summary: Another one-shot piece of fluff in the Nick/Adalind "Coming to Terms" world, since they're so much fun to write, especially when Adalind's making Nick do something he'd rather not.


AN: You guys are the best. I was going to wait to post this until I at least posted the first chapter of the next multi-part story of the Nick and Adalind saga (Accepting the Consequences), as it is referenced briefly in that story, but the more I started thinking the more I think you probably don't have to have that to get this.

Another one-shot piece of fluff. Procrastinating while I'm stuck trying to write chapter 11 of that story, and this came to mind.

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"This is the day when you wear a hoodie?!" she whispered loudly. Not that he didn't look damn hot in said hoodie. "This is not the day you wear a hoodie!"

Nick glared at her in annoyance.

She held up her hands in a placating gesture. "You know what? It's fine. It's fine. I brought another shirt, just in case." She reached into the back seat of her—formerly Juliette's—car and pulled out a garment bag.

Nick raised his eyebrows in disbelief. They were in the parking garage of the police station, Nick having agreed to spending his lunch hour entertaining one of Adalind's "whims." He was now most certainly regretting that decision.

"You expect me to change my clothes for this? Where the hell are we going?"

"I told you! Dr. Ansheimler had an opening for an interview at that daycare I've been telling you about."

"We're _interviewing_ at a daycare for our one-year old son, Adalind. He's _one_. Not going to college."

"Well, if he gets into the wrong daycare he might not go to college. Is that what you want?" Adalind retorted and Nick rolled his eyes. "He's going to college!" she said.

"Okay," Nick said in the tone of voice that usually indicated he was only agreeing because he didn't want to hear any more.

"Okay," she replied with a nod. She pulled the button down woven shirt, her favorite on him—navy blue with a satin navy pinstripe—out of the garment bag and handed it to him. He gave her another dark look and she smiled sweetly.

"We've got just enough time for you to change." Nick sighed loudly and rolled his eyes again. He turned to head to the restroom to put on the shirt when Adalind caught sight of the pants he was wearing, brown denim jeans and she frowned, and held out her arm to stop him.

"Hmm…that shirt isn't really going to go with those pants," she murmured, and Nick smiled victoriously and started to hand her the shirt back. "Good thing I brought some matching pants," she said ignoring it and reaching inside the garment bag again. She pulled a pair of pewter sateen suit pants and handed them to Nick.

He stared at them unamused and said, "those are dress pants."

"Yup." She said still holding them out.

"They go with a suit."

"Uh-huh," she agreed and he gave her a knowing look.

"I am not wearing a suit to this!"

"Sure," she said. "Hurry, you need to change so we can get going." She waved the dress pants at Nick when he stood there glaring at her. "Chop! Chop! Your son's future rests on this interview. A positive impression is solid first step." He snatched the pants from her and stalked over to the double doors that led to the lobby and restroom. She paced around in the garage by her car, and checked her watch anxiously, pausing a moment to review her reflection in the car's shiny surface and smooth down her skirt. She touched up her hair and when she looked up Nick was striding back, looking handsome and dangerous in shirt and pants, the look nearly perfect until she realized he was wearing his usual scuffed work shoes, a kind of work boot made from medium brown leather. She peered at them closely, eyebrows merging together in consternation as she stared at them.

"Hmm…those shoes," she started, and Nick tossed his clothes into the backseat of the car and slammed the door.

"Adalind!"

"Is that blood?" she asked, pointing to a suspicious reddish/brown stain on the toe, and Nick looked down with an annoyed frown.

"Probably," he replied.

"You can't wear blood-stained shoes to Kelly's daycare interview," she said looking up and Nick met her eyes with an impatient huff and placed his hands on his hips.

"What do you expect? I wear these to crime scenes, sometimes there's going to be blood around. I work homicide, you know," he added rudely, and Adalind stifled a sigh of her own.

"Yes, but do you really think the _I'm knee deep every day in bodies_ vibe is the one we want to exude? This is a very exclusive place, Nick," she told him, sliding an arm around his back to start pushing him to the driver's side door.

"Why can't he go to a regular daycare?" Nick wondered fighting against her.

"Really? You have to ask that?" she replied. "It's okay, I brought shoes, too," she assured him and he swiveled around to look at her in annoyed disbelief. "Come on, we're going to be late," she said ignoring his look and guiding him to the car. He opened the door jerkily with another shake of his head and Adalind hurried around to the other side before he left her.

%%%%%%%

He jiggled his knee in aggravation as they sat in the lobby. Adalind laid her hand over said knee and squeezed it gently in a silent message to _stop!_ And he turned his head from his perusal of the room and various plaques on the wall to glare at her. She smiled a forced grin in response and squeezed his knee again. He jerked it out of her grasp and jiggled the other knee instead. She bit her lip and looked heavenward.

"You look very nice," she tried and he sharpened his gaze with a dark look at her and she gave up trying to appease him.

He did look very nice, and she was glad she had brought along the matching suit jacket to the pants. The picture he made was much more complete with it, shiny black dress shoes that gleamed in the artificial lighting and matching belt. His perpetual scruff was a light shadow on his face, giving him a sort of devil-may-care look, provided he stopped glowering at the room long enough. He looked up when another couple came out of the Ansheimler's office and she watched as his cop's eyes took note of their appearance. The man was dressed in Armani, and she thought she recognized the woman's dress as last season's Versace, and she sniffed in public disdain as they passed and privately worried. If she wasn't mistaken the man was chairman of the board of Pacific light and energy. She looked across from her and focused on the couple seated in front of them, also neatly attired. She scrutinized them as she tried to discern what they were up against. The woman looked up and smiled shrewdly. She was wearing this spring's Dolce and Gabbana, jimmy choo shoes which Adalind secretly coveted, and a diamond ring on her finger that had to be at least five carats.

"How old is your little one?" the woman asked politely, running her eyes over Nick, and Adalind ran hers over him as well, defensively shifting in her seat when the woman seemed to come to the conclusion he was out of his element. Nick transferred his gaze to the woman, and the man who Adalind assumed to be her husband, who glanced up to see who his wife was talking to, those seemingly clairvoyant cop eyes taking in about a hundred details in one innocuous glance.

Adalind smiled, and replied, "He just turned one a couple of weeks ago."

"Ah, a boy. Your first?" the woman said looking from Nick to Adalind. Nick said nothing just watched the woman and Adalind replied, "yes, our first," and tried not to give anything away in that statement. _Probably our only_ , she thought wondering what and if and when and _how_ (well, she knew _how_ ) that would ever create the circumstances that would generate another child between them. She wasn't sure she could ever see it happening, the anomaly that was Kelly to most certainly remain an isolated event in their history. That wasn't to say she was averse to it happening again, just that there was still a lot of shit to sort through, and Nick had been sort of shanghaied into this parenting gig with her, and it was better to not look a gift horse in the mouth with how well he took to it, and straw that breaks the camel's back and all that.

"This is our fourth," the lady offered, "Savannah just turned two last month," and of course her kid's name was _Savannah_. "My husband," and she indicated the man next to her, "has known Dr. Ansheimler for years. He delivered both her children," she confessed, and _of course_ the man beside her was a doctor.

"I'm Valencia—" ( _naturally,_ Adalind thought) the woman said, "—and this is Blake," she indicated her husband and Adalind thought _Nick must be having a field day with this. I'll hear about this all the way back to the station_ , "Dr. Stewardson at St. Joseph's?" Valencia asked, as though Nick and Adalind ought to have heard of him. She looked expectantly at them both, Nick's eyebrow doing that slow slink into the corner of his eye when he saw something he couldn't believe, of the non-Wesen variety, and Adalind hastened to make introductions.

"I'm Adalind, and this is Nick," she said, slipping an arm around his and he turned his head to look at her with an unreadable—well, to everyone else—expression and she shot him back one of her own as she smiled brightly at him with clenched teeth.

"Ah," Valencia said. "Of course, Blake is so busy with his practice all the time. I volunteer at the women's shelter and am on the board of the directors for the Portland Arts association," and Adalind grinned politely in response.

"How wonderful," she said, smiling pointedly at Nick who managed a half-assed polite smile of his own when Adalind squeezed his arm painfully.

"What do you and your husband do?" Valencia asked, and Adalind's smile dimmed a little. Nick raised his eyebrow expectantly a distant look of amusement in his eyes as his smile grew slightly. She patted his arm, a little harder than necessary, as she tried to think how to respond, when Nick finally said his first words since they had embarked on their trip here.

"We're not married," he told Valencia, and Valencia shrank back a little, looking between them as though she might not want to know them after all.

Adalind smiled, and tried to ignore the slight twist of her heart. Not like she wanted to be married, or expected to be married to Nick. "Uh, Nick's a detective for the Portland P.D." _and a Grimm, and a pretty big component in the fight against the Wesen uprising and coming War_ , "and I was a stay at home mom," _and a hexenbiest and a pretty horrendous person "_ but I'm getting ready to go back to work. Berman, and Associates? You've heard of it?" she asked politely and knew they had when Valencia gave a look of recognition. You had to be living under a rock in Portland to not recognize the name. It was one of the largest and well-known law firms in the city.

"Are you a paralegal there?" Valencia asked, and Adalind narrowed her eyes.

"No, I'm a partner in the firm. I worked there several years ago as a partner and have decided to return to work. Anyway that's why we're here," she finished, patting Nick's arm again.

"Detective?" Blake asked. "What kind of detective?"

"Robbery/Homicide," Nick replied shortly, and Adalind bristled when she noticed Blake's eyes travel over Nick.

"Is that how you two met?" Valencia asked, looking between them. "Did you prosecute one of his cases?"

"No," she and Nick answered and then neither apparently decided to elaborate.

"So, do you know much about this place?" Adalind asked, changing the subject. "Did your other children attend?"

Valencia looked back at her husband with a smile. "All of our children have attended. It's the best place in the city. 95% of the children who attended here test above average in intelligence and mental acuity. 87% went on to ivy league schools. Our Remington skipped two grades after attending here, and Braham had the highest reading score in his third grade class. The education and care is top notch," and she felt more than saw Nick's eyes flick to hers. "That's why it's so important to get on the wait list early—you can't afford to miss an opportunity and start them too late," and Adalind shook her head in agreement.

"I mean two years, just flies by. It's good that you managed to get on the list. I don't think three years old will be too late to make a positive and critical impact on your son," Valencia said, looking to her husband for confirmation. Blake nodded his head in agreement and said, "There should still be some malleable cognitive opportunity."

Nick's eyebrow shot up and Adalind bit her lip. _Some malleable cognitive opportunity?_

"Three?" Nick said. "We're interviewing at daycare now so he can attend it two years later?" he asked her and Adalind subtly kicked him.

"Of course not. We're interviewing so we can get Kelly in before I go back to work next month," she replied.

"Oh," and Valencia chuckled politely, looking at her husband who smiled in smug amusement. "I'm sorry. There's no way that they'll have an opening in that short a time. There's a two year waiting list," she explained to Nick, as though he didn't understand that, and Adalind frowned.

She heard a cellphone ring, and realized it was coming from Nick. He flashed a polite, if slightly discontented smile, and answered it.

"Burkhardt," he said, and turned his attention away from them. It was work, judging by the way he answered the phone, and she hoped he wasn't about to make his escape and leave her to handle the Stewardson's and Kelly's interview on her own. She tightened her arm reflexively around Nick's, and Nick swiveled his dark head back to look at her questioningly. She flashed a slightly nervous smile at him and Nick glanced at her and then the Stewardsons before curtly replying to the other side of his phone conversation. "I don't know, probably another hour, yet. We're still waiting in the lobby," he said. "Did we get a match on the fingerprints?" And everyone in the lobby listened, but only Nick heard the answer to his question as he narrowed his eyes at the information being relayed to him. Wu probably, Adalind thought. Or maybe Hank.

"That doesn't fit with what we found on the body," Nick was saying and he shook his head. "I think we need to interview the witness again. The throat was completely torn out—" and Valencia looked slightly disturbed and nauseated and Adalind smacked Nick's arm and covered it up with a few pats when Nick turned his attention back to her with a glare. She grinned pointedly at him, flicking her eyes to the Stewardsons and the phone he was holding in his hand, and he frowned at her and said into his phone, "I'm thinking the witness knew the victim, or knew about the money and that's why we found the body like we did." He nodded to something in reply and said, "Sounds good. I'll see you in sixty." And Adalind glanced at his watch, trying to read the time piece on his wrist. He clicked the phone screen off and tucked it back into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He raised both his eyebrows as if to say _happy?_ And turned his attention back to their companions.

"So, two year wait?" he asked, looking at Adalind, who was avoiding his eyes, and Blake glanced at Valencia with a nod.

"Yes, at least. Sometimes longer, but the chances of getting in earlier than that, well," and here they laughed again and Adalind wished she could hit them. "Next to impossible."

"Really," Nick said, looking at Adalind and she smiled nervously. "Seems like you would know that," He added quietly to Adalind, and chewed on her thumbnail before realizing what she was doing. She was saved from a response when Ansheimler's secretary called out their names, "Nicholas Burkhardt and Adalind Schade?"

"That's us," Adalind replied, letting go of Nick's arm and gathering her things. "Nice meeting you," she told the Stewardsons. She glanced at Nick, who looked frankly peeved and then led the way into Ansheimler's office.

"Dr. Ansheimler will be with you shortly," her secretary said, and Adalind smiled and nodded and watched as she closed the door. Nick had slouched in one of the chairs in front of Ansheimler's desk, Adalind in the other, as she watched him work the muscle in his jaw.

"Two year waiting list?" he said. "For a daycare," he added, giving her a look. He twisted his mouth knowingly. "You knew that," he said realizing. He sighed long-sufferingly. "So what are we doing here if it's next to impossible to get Kelly in?"

"Please," Adalind scoffed. "Do you realize how many things that you and I have done that have been " _next to impossible_?" And that's alone. Together…this will be a piece of cake," she said with more confidence than she felt.

He stared at her for a long moment. "Adalind," he began, and she knew that tone. She instinctively dug her metaphorical heels in.

"He's going to this daycare, Nick."

He groaned in frustration. "Why is it so important he goes here?"

"This is the best daycare in the city. It has the most advanced educational system and has been consistently ranked for its standard of care. It's also one of the most secure places to leave your children, and you know that's imperative to Kelly's well-being," and Nick frowned but didn't dispute the fact. "They have an excellent faculty-to-child ratio and are equipped to handle exceptional children. And you know Kelly is likely going to be an exceptional child," she added pointedly, and they both knew they weren't just referring to his mental capabilities.

Nick sighed again, quietly this time, and sat up a little straighter. "I can understand that you want the best for our son, but I'm not sure it's realistic to expect to get him in next month in a place that has a two year wait list."

"Despite what you may believe, I didn't plan on getting pregnant by you two years ago. I barely hoped to survive long enough to give birth, and I definitely never dreamed we would be in a position like this once he was born, so I'm sorry I didn't make sure to put his name in first thing when I found out I was pregnant."

Nick rolled his head in resignation. "Besides, I was an exceptional lawyer. I am fully confident in my ability to negotiate, forcefully if necessary, a place for Kelly in this daycare next month."

Nick gave her a look of incredulity. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "And you're helping whether you like it or not."

"And what exactly am I supposed to do?"

"Sit up straight, turn off your phone," she added pointedly, "and talk up your son."

Nick glared, but did mostly as she asked, muting his phone rather than turn it off, and sitting up in the chair. She tugged at his sleeve to pull the cuff down, and he batted her hand away with another glare. He was still glaring and fixing his sleeve when Dr. Ansheimler strode in.

"Mr. and Mrs. Burkhardt," she said, "so nice to meet you," and Adalind refrained from rolling her eyes at the assumption and instead held out her hand. Ansheimler shook both their hands, her eyes gliding over her and Nick, who had risen from his seat, and retook it with the ghost of a frown still marring his features when both Adalind and Ansheimler took theirs.

"I understand you are wanting to enroll your son at our center," Ansheimler began, picking up her pen to take notes.

"Yes, Kelly, he's one," Adalind replied with a smile.

"So we would potentially be looking at a Fall 2018 enrollment," Ansheimler stated, and Adalind smiled apologetically. "No, we're actually looking at a Spring 2016 date," she said and Nick clasped his hands together in his lap and flashed a smile of his own.

Ansheimler set her pen down and looked at them in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

Adalind leaned forward, "I'm going back to work soon—I was a stay at home mom—and we need to get Kelly enrolled by the 16th."

"Of April?"

"No, of February."

And Ansheimler gaped in shock.

"You can't be serious," she said looking from Nick and Adalind and Nick shrugged apologetically.

"I'm afraid so," Adalind replied. "Now, I understand that normally there's a longer wait time, but we feel," she pointed to Nick and her, "that our Kelly is an exceptional child who will fit right in and thrive with your environment. And of course we're prepared to shoulder the expense and all the fees associated with his enrollment."

"We are?" Nick interjected. "How much does this place cost?" he asked in concern looking from Ansheimler to Adalind.

Ansheimler stared at him for a long moment, before flicking her eyes back to Adalind. "Tuition is $23,000 a year."

"$23,000?! Tuition! It's daycare," Nick exclaimed.

"Which is expensive, Nick," Adalind cut in. "Especially good daycare, let alone exceptional," she added, smiling again at Ansheimler. Nick scoffed loudly and Ansheimler cut her eyes to Nick.

"Mr. Burkhardt, I don't think you and your wife," and here Adalind cringed inwardly—"understand that what you're asking is impossible."

"Oh, _I_ understand," Nick retorted, and Adalind glared at him. "What about that place on Pine and Wilson," he asked Adalind, and she stared at him in annoyance, wondering what he was referring to, until she recalled a daycare by the name of _Littlest Angels_ , something that she couldn't begin to associate with a child with either of their DNA. Kelly was a good baby, but an _angel?_ No. She patted Nick's knee before digging her nails into it and Nick winced and tried to shift away.

"Nonsense," she said. "I'm sure we can come to an agreement and then we can be on our way," she smiled challengingly at Ansheimler, and Ansheimler, perhaps realizing that Nick might be the reasonable one, directed her attention back to him.

Nick still squirmed under her hand, finally freeing his leg from her grip and he flashed a dark look at Adalind before turning it on Ansheimler.

She could tell the exact moment Ansheimler realized what Nick was and therefore, revealed what _she_ was.

She gasped and jerked back in her seat. "A Grimm?!" she exclaimed, looking wildly at Adalind, as though she might confirm it. Ansheimler began to babble incoherently as she floundered for words, and Nick raised his brow in annoyance at her reaction, perturbed with the way his afternoon seemed to be going, which seemed to agitate Ansheimler more. Adalind tried to smile reassuringly when Ansheimler looked at her again, and then realized the opportunity this might afford, and smiled even wider.

Nick held up his hands in an effort to calm her, and said, "it's all right, I'm not—" and Adalind batted them back down and said over him, "I know we're not going to walk out of here disappointed. I mean, we're all reasonable people, who want the best for a child—our child," and she smiled at Nick and clasped one of his hands she still held to her chest, and then smiled again at Ansheimler. Nick frowned and rolled his eyes, realizing what she was doing, and jerked his hand away and started to interject.

"We're not—" he said, and Adalind stepped on the top of his foot with her high heel.

He stood suddenly out of his seat, and whether it was because it hurt (doubtful) or because he had finally had enough of this whole ordeal (likely), Ansheimler misinterpreted the action and woged again.

"Of course we have a spot for your son," she said quickly and Adalind gasped happily. She turned to Nick unable to contain her joy and he scowled and said, "I'm not paying 23,000 for _daycare_ —"

"Of course not," Ansheimler agreed hurriedly. "I mean, the child of a Grimm, it would be an honor—I mean we wouldn't expect more than 15,000?" she asked hopefully looking at Adalind for help.

"Fifteen grand?" Nick exclaimed.

"Twelve? Ten?" Ansheimler amended pleadingly, and Adalind realized whether or not 23,000 was extravagant for daycare, Nick had no idea what actual daycare cost at even a mediocre place, and this…this was far from mediocre.

"That's more than fair," Adalind agreed, and flashed her eyes at Nick when he looked at her incredulously. He threw his hands up and sat down again, putting his head in his hand and shook it as he listened to Ansheimler. She sagged a little in relief and then said, "Well, if you're son is going to start on the sixteenth we have lots of paperwork to fill out, don't we?" she tittered nervously and called for her secretary.

"Please get Mr. and Mrs. Burkhardt the enrollment forms for their son." She said, and then stood and said, "And I'll just grab a few other documents we need. Would you like a drink?" she asked Nick and Adalind, and Nick gave her a look that said what type, exactly, he'd like for a drink and Adalind thanked her with a request for a water.

Ansheimler left the room, still blathering nervously to herself, and Adalind sat back in her seat stunned that her son would soon be enrolled at the best daycare in the city, the one with a two year wait-list.

She patted Nick's knee excitedly, unable to contain her happiness, and Nick looked at her as though he thought she was nuts. He probably did. He rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Are we almost done?" he asked after a moment that she usually associated with him counting to ten silently.

"Just a few more minutes, I'm sure," Adalind replied soothingly, and Nick nodded, grimacing. He sat up again when Ansheimler returned, her secretary trailing with a thick folder. Nick eyed it dubiously when Ansheimler set it between them on the desk.

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Nick waved away Ansheimler's profuse apologies and welcomes, and Adalind carefully ushered them all towards the door, sensing Nick's patience coming to an abrupt end. It was now three hours into his lunch hour and he had lost most of the afternoon to this excursion. Adalind thanked Ansheimler again, and was gratified when her "We look forward to seeing your son this February," carried out into the lobby where the Stewardsons gaped at them in shock. Adalind smiled and allowed Nick to guide her out, hand on the small of her back as they walked through the waiting room, and Adalind flashed another smile at Blake and Valencia and said, "good luck!"

Nick reached for his phone and turned the sound back on, scrolling through the messages. "I missed six messages from Wu," he stated flatly. "and a dozen texts from Hank," he added sourly when they were out in the parking lot.

Adalind grabbed his jacket and kissed him hard, still excited that they had actually done it. Nick glared at her. "That's doesn't even begin to make up for this," he stated darkly.

She looped her arms around his neck, and kissed him more thoroughly pulling his head down roughly to her mouth and Nick grasped an arm around her waist to steady himself. She felt him respond and she deepened the kiss, sliding her tongue along his, before breaking off when she finally had to gasp for air. Nick pulled back, a flush on his cheeks, and said, "That doesn't either."

She grinned and stared into his eyes affectionately, fingers toying with the hair at the nape of his neck, thinking that if they were the type to tell each other _I love you,_ this would be where she said it, but _they_ weren't the type, and she especially wasn't, so she said nothing and satisfied herself with a long dreamy look into Nick's eyes before the dark look of annoyance he had been sporting faded, and he shuffled nervously under her attention.

"You still owe me," he said, pulling away, and opening the passenger side door for her.

"Thank you," she said when Nick got in the driver's seat beside her and he started the car. She reached for him again and placed another kiss, softer this time on his cheek, before Nick turned his head and she felt his lips slide over hers. He pulled away after a few seconds and pressed his lips together, as though tasting her lip gloss and he flashed soft eyes at her as he put the car in gear and drove back to the police station. Adalind faced forward in her seat and clapped excitedly still on a high from her success. She caught a glimpse of a smile on Nick's face and she turned to look at the window so he wouldn't see hers.


End file.
